Stories in Topic: Culture and Society

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Consider this the coldest of cold cases: 529 years after his death, a 16th century English king has been positively identified through DNA testing. And what’s more, the DNA tests have shown a possible kink in the royal family’s lineage.

Review of new population projections released this week by the Census Bureau finds that the pace of population growth in the U.S. is slowing while the population continues to become more diverse, according to analysis from the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire.

Juan Luis Martínez had a habit of disappearing. In his groundbreaking 1977 book, The New Novel, Martínez wrote, "The universe is a phantom's effort to become reality," and the neo-avant-garde Chilean poet was something of a specter. He was fond of metaphysical vanishing acts: ducking behind collages, enigmas, quotes, and the words of others in his work and playing tricks on his readers.

It was 1692. Like the rest of New England, Massachusetts was under British rule. It was against the law not to go to church. Puritan doctrine was suspect of anything that wasn’t morally pure. Almost everyone, if not all, believed the devil was real.